Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2021
Core Sessions
Opening Remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director
ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
23 June 2021
Distinguished colleagues, ladies, and gentlemen,
Welcome to the start of the core programme of GSR-21 sessions, which represents the culmination of a wide-ranging programme of regional and targeted consultative events.
Secretary-General Houlin Zhao was unfortunately at the last minute not able to join us. He sends his regrets and best wishes.
Since we came together for the last GSR, in the midst of the first wave of the COVID crisis, the immense challenges the world was facing have sadly not abated.
Instead, we've had to double-down on our reliance on digital networks and services, as the pandemic continues to surge sporadically, and often unpredictably, across different regions.
But in this climate of global uncertainty, I think one thing is sure: there is now no going back.
Whether we were ready for it or not, digital is our new normal, and the proliferation of digital platforms and services, and our reliance on them, will only accelerate in the months and years ahead.
Which means – as the President of the General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, recently observed – that the digital divide really is the new face of global inequality.
At the opening of last year's GSR, I remarked that, with digital technologies so central to every nation's COVID response and mitigation strategy, the work of regulators and policy makers – your work, your leadership – has never been more critical. Yesterday, we had a really moving session on leadership in our Road to Addis event, Lead2Connect. Your role to empower, to enable, and to connect, is critical.
Twelve months ago, our big challenge was to maintain an even keel, to ensure services were resilient and accessible to as many people as possible.
We saw some great examples of people-centred connectivity initiatives through our REG4COVID platform, with regulators and operators collaborating to expand access to spectrum, cap consumer charges, and unbuckle usage limits, and more – all to ensure citizens under lockdown could take maximum advantage of the power of digital to keep their lives on track.
The success of these efforts has been rightly recognized by leaders around the world.
But more than that, it has put a spotlight on a way forward for all of us. A way forward based on closer collaboration – collaboration between regulators, operators and platform providers; collaboration across different industry sectors; and collaboration between countries, and regions. This was a key word at our Heads of Regulators Executive Roundtable.
As markets rapidly morph into increasingly digitized, 'pandemic-proof' models, the role of the regulator is changing too.
Where regulators once served as market overseers, gatekeepers and arbitrators, the role of the 'new generation' regulator is evolving into what we might call an 'architect of fit-for-purpose, collaborative regulation', helping shape and optimize the functioning of the digital markets that are now so vital to every segment of our economies, and our societies.
The job of this new modern-day regulator increasingly involves a degree of Socratic questioning:
- Is it best to have, or not have, certain regulations? – and best for whom?
- Which regulatory measures will lead most rapidly, and effectively, to desired social and economic goals?
- And in fast-evolving digital markets, what is the optimal shelf-life for different regulatory frameworks and targeted measures?
There are many more such questions, and market players, the business community, and consumers alike are increasingly looking to regulators for guidance, consent and protection.
With digital now vital to the continuity and growth of every economic sector, we count on you to stee, to lead, a safe and steady course through highly unpredictable terrain.
You have become the ''Sherpas'' of digital transformation, and the guardians of its growing pains.
To fulfill this complex role, regulators need appropriate tools at their disposal to protect consumer interests and nurture healthy growth across the entire ICT ecosystem.
That's what 5th generation regulation is all about. Our future-proof regulatory frameworks must be flexible enough to respond to the challenges of digital transformation in the aftermath of global crises, and beyond.
At the same time, they need to consider inter- and intra-regional differences that can have a profound influence on market dynamics.
As we heard during our recent GSR regional dialogues, while there are broad principles that can be applied across the board, we also need to be open to customized approaches which reflect the enormous diversity of our six global regions – both economic, and cultural.
To meet the growing needs and expectations of all stakeholders, frameworks need to be transparent, inclusive, and increasingly developed in collaboration with other players, and end-users.
As our regional dialogues highlighted, one can have the most advanced technology in the world, but if the implementation and application of this technology is not affordable, actionable, and above all, people-centred, in the end we still have nothing.
Uptake and use are everything.
Our GSR Best Practice Guidelines set out a framework of guiding principles that can help every regulator re-shape itself into a highly responsive, forward-looking organization of collaborative regulatory practice.
Strategic priorities should address the short-to-medium term outlook for national and global markets, complemented by longer-term strategies which take account of relevant government policy and ensure a coordinated approach to advancing regional development priorities.
Communication is also an increasingly important part of the regulator's remit; today's markets and consumers alike are demanding clear rationales for how and why decisions are made, along with comprehensible and measurable time-bound targets and monitoring mechanisms for implementation. We had some great examples of evidence-based and data driven decision making in our Executive Roundtable on Monday.
The highly dynamic nature of today's digital markets also means regulatory frameworks will need to be regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to meet the public policy objectives for which they were created.
Revoking old rules that are no longer relevant is just as important as eagerly adopting forward-looking ones.
Inclusive, multi-stakeholder consultation needs to be a core part of this process, so that the multiplicity of voices impacted by digital regulation have the chance to make themselves heard.
Ultimately, the search for the right regulatory recipe will always be a process of iteration, with constant adjustment needed to respond to an ever-evolving environment.
Maintaining a high-altitude view is equally important, because while targeted measures can certainly facilitate this or that service, or resolve this or that problem, a constant welter of reactive, incremental changes risks fragmentation, and can ultimately undermine the core principles underpinning even the most carefully crafted regulatory framework.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As always, over the next three days the GSR programme will seek to address many of the most pressing issues facing regulators working within today's complex and inter-dependent digital ecosystem.
We will be sharing a number of important tools from our new G5 Accelerator Platform, which brings together our new ICT Regulatory Tracker, our ICT Policy Impact Lab, and, soon, our new G5 Benchmark.
We will also be launching important papers on econometric modelling of the impact of broadband and digitization during the pandemic, and on financing universal access to digital technologies and services, along with new country case studies for Rwanda and Tanzania.
We will be unveiling a new section of our Digital Regulation platform focused on promoting cyber resilience for critical information infrastructures, in collaboration with the World Bank.
And, of course, throughout we'll be showcasing this year's Best Practice guidelines as well as drawing on the rich outputs generated by the GSR Regional Regulatory Roundtables.
We have much to discuss, and I have no doubt that this year's GSR sessions featuring will be instrumental in helping us better understand the issues, clarify our priorities and define our own visions and strategies for our national markets.
Our collective challenge is to find fast and effective ways to keep pace with accelerating digital evolution while doing our utmost to promote universal, affordable, accessible, meaningful access to connectivity.
COVID has shown us all too clearly that universal connectivity must be every nation's new benchmark, and most urgent priority. That is why the upcoming WTDC, now confirmed for 2022 with the theme of ''Connecting the Unconnected to achieve Sustainable Development'' could not be more timely.
This week, hakuna matata.
I am confident that GSR-21 will play a major role in advancing us towards this goal, and over the coming three days I look forward very much to the chance for all of us to share our views, listen to each other's experiences, and find new ways to collaborate ever more effectively.
Thank you.
